WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, met virtually with Secretary of State Nominee Antony Blinken.
“Today I had the opportunity to meet virtually with Secretary of State Nominee Antony Blinken and discuss the foreign policy and national security challenges and opportunities facing the United States, and how Congress and the incoming Biden Administration can work together to meet them. We discussed the need to ensure diversity at the State Department, the challenges posed by China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, and the need to recommit ourselves to addressing climate change with the urgency it deserves. It is clear that Mr. Blinken is ready to assume the role of Secretary of State and will bring a commitment to our alliances and international partnerships, a belief in diplomacy, and a steadiness to our foreign policy that has been sorely lacking for the past four years. Mr. Blinken and I share a belief in the power of an America that leads with its values, and I look forward to working with him and the Biden Administration to strengthen and diversify our diplomatic corps, reinvest in our alliances and keep Americans safe.”
Antony Blinken has held senior foreign policy positions in two administrations over three decades, and has advised President-elect Biden on foreign policy since 2002. From 2015 to 2017, Blinken served as Deputy Secretary of State under the Obama-Biden administration. In that role, Blinken helped to lead diplomacy in the fight against ISIL, the rebalance to Asia, and the global refugee crisis, while building bridges to the innovation community. Before that, Blinken served as Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama. He chaired the Deputies Committee, the administration’s principal forum for formulating foreign policy. During the first Obama term, he was National Security Advisor to Vice President Biden. Blinken served as Democratic Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008 and was a member of President Clinton’s National Security Council staff from 1994 to 2001.
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